Posted
by
EditorDavid
on Sunday July 16, 2017 @01:24PM
from the Inspector-Spacetime dept.

Peter Capaldi, the 12th Doctor Who, had said that he wanted to see a woman replace him in the Tardis, and so did former Doctor Who stars Billie Piper and Karen Gillan. And today it's official: "the 13th incarnation of Doctor Who will be portrayed by an actress," writes Slashdot reader Coisiche -- specifically Jodie Whittaker, who American viewers may remember from her performance as CIA officer Sandra Grimes in the 2014 mini-series "The Assets." The BBC reports:
She was revealed in a trailer that was broadcast on BBC One at the end of the Wimbledon men's singles final... She will make her debut on the sci-fi show when the Doctor regenerates in the Christmas Day show... Whittaker said: "I'm beyond excited to begin this epic journey...with every Whovian on this planet. It's more than an honour to play the Doctor. It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for: hope... Doctor Who represents everything that's exciting about change."
Doctor Who's new showrunner said the 13th Doctor was always going to be a woman -- and that Whittaker was their first choice. "Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role." Doctor Who #12 added that Whittaker "has above all the huge heart to play this most special part. She's going to be a fantastic Doctor." And Will Howells, who writes for the Doctor Who magazine, said "I don't think it's a risky choice at all but if a show that can go anywhere and do anything can't take risks, what can?"

I just hope Dr. Who treats her as an actual Doctor, not just use her to virtue-signal for SJW cred. Dr. Who's increasing politicization is really getting annoying. It's starting to feel like that guy who brings out his one black friend at every party and points to him to let you know that he's a proper non-racist liberal.

When characters are naturally gay or black or whatever, that's great. When they're one-dimensional non-entities who just appear from stage-left in every episode just to remind everyone of their gayness and blackness, that's just virtue-signalling. And it's an insult to real gays, minorities, women etc. who are actual real human beings.

I hope she's a real character. I hope that every episode doesn't revolve around some stereotypical "women's issues" just to trumpet for the thousandth time that this Dr. Who is A WOMAN.

It would be worth doing just to watch the heads explode. All the right wing comment sections are going nuts.

How dare human beings not be racist and sexist in the way I prefer. They are worse than scum. They must be, shudder, republicans!/s

Or maybe people want to be treated and viewed as people instead of labeled, classified, and pre-judged based on neo-marxist oppression structures specifically designed 30 years ago to favor the people that created it.

Or maybe people want to be treated and viewed as people instead of labeled, classified, and pre-judged based on neo-marxist oppression structures specifically designed 30 years ago to favor the people that created it.

Go rewatch some of the older episodes with the Master and see if you can still say that. Missy was a poor approximation of the Master and the stupid "Master/Doctor" romance thing they tried to shove into that relationship ruined the character.

Missy was a exceptional incarnation of The Master as an evil Mary Poppins. Michelle Gomez proved the character can be gender flipped and still retain credibility.

Exactly, but they never made a big deal of it so it worked well.

This last companion, however, was an abomination of SJW-ness. Not a single episode went by without them putting some focus on her liking girls and/or (mostly and) some slavery reference. It was tedious, annoying, helped nothing, and damaged the story lines.

Cpt Jack's homosexuality was never an issue and it was never focused on. Martha didn't go around constantly commenting about slavery. Bill was also the first female companion (at least since the reboot) that I would not classify as a "strong woman" (mostly due to her being on about slavery and being gay so much). Seemed she needed more rescuing by the Dr than she did rescuing of the Dr like all her predecessors did.

Hopefully the story will just be "poof, the Dr is a woman" and then it is never mentioned again. If so, it will work well. Based on how they are publicizing it, however, I suspect they are going to work some form of "wait! you're a woman now???" into each episode. That will be a damn shame if that is indeed what happens.

I agree that there should be a female Dr and by all accounts it looks like she is a good choice. I just hope that the writers and producers don't turn it into disgusting political circus to try to make a point that doesn't need making.

I'll grant you that may be as I don't think I ever went back and watched the 10th in order, so that could have skewed my view.

especially in he spin off Torchwood

Never seen an episode and not directly the subject.

By comparison, Bill has been very subtle and matter of fact.

Subtle doesn't mean what you think it means. I'm not willing to say "every" without rewatching them all (which I will never do), but most they made at least one jarring and out of place scene where she had to tell someone she was into girls. While it may have been "matter of fact", it served no purpose in the story other than "hey! l

While it may have been "matter of fact", it served no purpose in the story other than "hey! look! I'm a lesbian character!".

Can you cite specific examples? It just seems like if a gay character mentions that they have a same-sex love interest, it's somehow an overt "hey! look! I'm a lesbian character!" move.

The original Star Trek and earlier Dr Who pulled off the ability to normalize such things specifically because they didn't make a deal out of it.

The original Star Trek made a huge deal out of it constantly. They did entire episodes about racism, were constantly pushing the boundaries with things like the first on-screen interracial kiss, and often it just got silly like the "planet of the Nazis" episode or the space hippies.

The Dr undergoes a complete physical change periodically and they've long made it part of the cannon that Timelords can change sexes in a regeneration. Missy was the first direct image of such.

Just seems that if they can manage it decently (e.g. not make a deal out of it), it makes sense. It's not a "omg they have to do this!!!" thing,
just something that seems like it should happen sooner or later based on what they've been setting up for ages.

So you think it should be ignored, huh? What if every time you saw someone they were a man and then suddenly, they became a woman.

First of all there is a difference between ignored and not making a deal over it. In the 10-11 regeneration Rose freaked out in an entirely understandable way, but then she accepted it and moved on.

Secondly, there have been few interactions with characters that knew the Dr in his prior incarnations. They could easily go her whole run without bringing old characters back. If they do, again, there is a history of them dealing with it reasonably and I would argue that for someone that knows who the Dr is is go

I am guessing you haven't been watching Dr. Who or the BBC for the last decade?

For the most part BBC has been good writing characters who may be against the normal stereotype without being preachy about it. There may be some episodes say where the Doctor is in the past and the men in charge will not listen to her, just because the Doctor is a woman. But I expect for the most part I trust that the BBC will make the New Doctor believable like the other ones.

Exactly! there is a BIG fricking difference than having a character who simply happens to be "x" than one whose entire reason for being is to be "x". A perfect example of doing it right? Heimdall in the Thor movies. Nobody gives a shit that he is black because he is a well written character who just so happens to be black. He is brave, loyal to his friends, willing to charge in despite extreme danger, one tough SOB. Nobody cares about his skin color because it simply isn't relevant to the story or the character it is simply a trait like being tall or strong which frankly is how it should be if we actually care about people being treated as equals and not objects.

Contrast this with how Hollywood portrays gay people which is still so cringe its pathetic, they always seem to go full Will & Grace stereotype gay. They can't just let a person be a person who just so happens to be gay, nope its "hey did you know I'm gay? Because i'm totally gay, yup as gay as gay can be uh huh that is me" which I have no doubt we'll look back in 20 years and see this virtue signaling for what it is...as racist as anything Amos and Andy did back in the day because they aren't allowed to just be people,normal folks with thoughts and fears and anxieties like everybody else, nope they have to go "magical negro" only its "super happy gay friend".

So if its a case of the Doctor simply ending up with a gender swap this regen, looking down saying something snarky and then moving on like "Oh well at least I'm not white haired anymore, it was making me feel dreadfully old" then it will be great....but considering how many times I've seen the word "diversity" thrown in there which in left wing speak always translates to "hey we're gonna be racist/sexist now, gotta fly the flag and show we are loyal to the cause"? I have a feeling we are gonna be in for some serious cringe.

lets just hope they don't end up killing the show because as we have seen people are REALLY getting fucking sick of being preached at and if the show becomes nothing but left wing politics and virtue signaling? I don't even see hardcore Dr Who fans wanting to tune in for their weekly dose of Who if it becomes nothing but propaganda.

Nobody gives a shit that he is black because he is a well written character who just so happens to be black.

Actually, there was quite a bit of sturm und drang over Heimdall being black. The neo-nazis and "race realists" went apeshit over it and threatened to boycott. 4chan and Reddit forums blew up over a black guy playing Heimdall, and it didn't calm down until well after the movie was out.

You mean the Mad Max movie where the title character was mainly a blood bag and a hood ornament. I can see why MRAs got their panties in a bunch over it. It did come of like some raging anti-man feminst from academia was allowed to run the project.

One dimensional characters are bad because they are poorly written not because they are one dimensional in a way you do not like. When you start dropping buzzwords like "SJW" and "Virtue Signalling" you are using them in place of rational argument. Bill Potts was just not a very interesting character , on the other hand I loved the characters of Madame Vastra and Jenny. Im sure some consider the character of Madame Vastra to be virtue signalling but they were in 1893 where women couldnt be "naturally gay"

I think that all that matters is whether this change reflects the world in the story or the world of the writers. It's difficult to follow a story with continuity depending on what decade's production you're currently watching.

For the most part I expect the BBC is just trying to get rid of the gender debate. No matter when they would replace the Doctor with a female version there will be controversy. So if they do it now, then they can get rid of the hurdle. If they found a talented actor and have good writers and directors, then things should be fine.Being that Capaldi wasn't that popular Doctor (I actually started to warm up with him this season) People are up for a change, back to a more vibrant Doctor.

Being that Capaldi wasn't that popular Doctor (I actually started to warm up with him this season) People are up for a change, back to a more vibrant Doctor.

Interesting. I have to say I loved Capaldi, and I thought his portrayal was great. Some of the scripts, on the other hand, could have used another go or two round the editor's desk before being OK'd. I'm hopeful the writers will do better by Whittaker.

A lot of the new Doctors have felt like children with no real gravitas. I rather liked the fact that Capaldi did NOT suffer from this. I suspect that this new actress will be more of that same nonsense beyond the mindless virtue signalling.

The real reason is that British TV shows tend to be written by the show creators, a relatively small team. In the US the creators outline the plot and characters, but most of the episodes are written by others. Lots of others in fact, and different groups for each episode.

I know, they don't have to screw this up. But this seems like a cheap gimmick. I'm not familar with the actress. Does she have a body of work that would lend itself well to playing a Doctor? On the plus side I don't expect them to try and go all action hero-y with her. I always hated it when the Doctor got violent.

What was the body of work of Tom Baker (who I still consider the best Doctor)? It's a sci-fi/fantasy show that historically (though not since the 2000s reboot) ran on a pretty low budget. Capaldi and Smith probably are the best actors if you're judging by resume, but I didn't find Capaldi all that good, though Smith did seem to fit better.

True, but Baker fit the character. e.g. an amusing old fuddy duddy. I don't really want to see the character reinvented. Usually when companies do that they try too hard with writers that can't pull it off and it just goes to hell in a handbasket. Dr Who's tough to write already since the solutions are suppose to be non-violent. In writing violence it the easiest way to resolve a plot, but usually the least interesting unless you've got a huge budget.

I'm a gay man who hates seeing gay characters hammered in to a show just so they have a gay character -- Sulu in the last Star Trek movie being an obvious case in point.

So I'm not sure about changing the Doctor to a woman just because the BBC need more diversity. To me, the Doctor is a male character, and I think should remain so. It's seems like feminism going to far (again?). (Jodie even said herself that she is a feminist).

With Missy, they introduced the idea of a male Time Lord regenerating as a woman, so it's been obvious for some time that this was coming. I'm just not sure I like it.

It happened to Thor too, so.I'm guess James Bond will be next.... Sigh.

I've nothing against woman and strong lead woman characters, it's just changing something because it's the "in thing" or because they feel they have to that does my head in. Like, should Wonder Woman become Wonder Man? Should Aunt Beru become Uncle Stew in the next version of A New Hope just so Star Wars can have a gay parent couple?

We'll see once we see her as the Doctor. I may change my mind. But for now, I'm not sure...

The Doctor was never about his gender, so switching it up shouldn't be cause for alarm.

However, as another poster mentioned, let's just hope this doesn't result in the writers going on a full "Patriarchy" writing binge, where the Doctor saves women from the evils of men in every episode.

There's so much potential for fun with the gender switch, I just hope they exploit that instead of going all "WOMENZ RULEZ THE WORLDSS!@!!!!1".

The question on whether the Doctor is capable of regenerating into a woman has been one of those little mysteries about the character that has gone on for decades. He was originally male and every single time he regenerated he came back as another man. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, war, 9, 10, meta-crisis (yes, it was sort of a cloning rather than a regular regeneration, but it still cost a life and was part Donna so it could have justifiably have gone either way), 11, 12 - that's 13 regenerations in a row, all men.

This show has been going downhill for sometime, no surprise that they are trying a female doctor now. I mean it worked so well for the Ghostbusters reboot, surely it will be a smashing success for Dr. Who. I have my serious doubts that any actor, male or female could rescue this show.

They've already ditched keeping the plots true to the show by adding a woman doctor. The Doctor is a mad man in a box. That's who the character is. You can't gender-swap the character without fundamentally altering the dynamic. It breaks the formula and they're only doing it to try and placate the SJW crowd.

Unfortunately they'll soon realize that while the SJW crowd is loud, they do not represent the fanbase. SJWs are not fans of the things they complain about. They're trolls looking to complain. Now that t

They've already ditched keeping the plots true to the show by adding a young doctor. The Doctor is an old man in a box. That's who the character is. You can't age-regress the character without fundamentally altering the dynamic.

The Doctor never really been that much of a sexual character where the doctor gender is what defined the character. Replacing the Mad Man with a box to the Crazy Lady with a Box, isn't that much of a difference.

However being after every new incarnation of Doctor Who the personality and sanity of Doctor who has been different. I would say Doctors 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 weren't so much mad men, perhaps at best eccentric, but that is due to the alien nature of the doctor.

Time Lords changing gender when regenerating is canon, and not just The Master / Missy. And the Doctor's personality changes with every regeneration, as well as his age and apparent nationality (English / Scottish). Becoming female breaks nothing, it's certainly no bigger change than going from a very young English man to a mid 50s Scottish man.

The Doctor has never really been interested in his male gender anyway - he doesn't really form romantic attachments and seems positively afraid of sex. There isn't really anything about his personality that is particularly masculine so becoming female is unlikely to alter his basic motivations or philosophy, or even the way he interacts with his companions.

Much more likely to bring a big change is the departure of Moffat as show runner. But hay, the anti-SJWs have gotta complain about something, and no point waiting to see how it actually turns out before writing it off as trolling and predicting it's failure.

Janeway worked as a character when she was allowed to be one character.. She suffered horribly from Writer of the Week syndrome deciding what she should be and how she should act. She flip-flopped from episode to episode between Team Mum, Hypocritical Martinet and "Professional Ubercaptain." When she was good, she was very very good indeed. She was just so inconsistent.

I always thought that Torres was more interesting than Janeway. She was a nerd, an engineer, but also struggling with anger and prejudice. She managed to have a relationship and even become a mother while continuing to work for much of the time.

Seven was interesting too as she got a lot of development. But Torres is the underrated one.

Budget and practicality of production restricts the Doctor to be human in appearance. Although, in an interview on Wittertainment, Andy Serkis claimed that motion capture is getting cheap enough that soon anybody will be able to do it, so who knows.

Nothing?
1) In the prequel The Night of the Doctor [youtube.com], The Sisterhood of Karn could control the regeneration: "Time Lord science is elevated here on Karn. The change doesn't have to be random. Fat or thin, young or old. Man or woman?"
2) Missy
3) In Season 9, in the Episode "Hell Bent", the General regenerates from an older white man to an older black woman.

There have been three examples in the last several seasons that explicitly show/state that a Time Lord can be regenerate into a female.

1) In the prequel The Night of the Doctor [youtube.com] The Sisterhood of Karn could control the regeneration: "Time Lord science is elevated here on Karn. The change doesn't have to be random. Fat or thin, young or old. Man or woman?"
2) Missy
3) In Season 9, in the Episode "Hell Bent", the General regenerates from an older white man to an older black woman.

The Doctor has said explicitly, even this past season, that the honorific of "Doctor" was named after him. In other words, he was the archetype. But what he fixed wasn't medical problems, but much larger ones. He runs around the Universe fixing things, more like an EMS paramedic than a GP in an office.

No not really. They have been leading up to it. With Smith regeneration thinking he was a girl with long hair, Missy regeneration from the master. That time lord the doctor shot regenerated in a back woman...BBC had been going a little too PC lately, a woman doctor isn't that surprising at all. There was also a lot of buzz about it on the fan sites also.

> I love the irony of the utters bringing up Star Trek TOS as an example in their anti-SJW crusade. Half the purpose of that show was race and gender issues....and it was still filled with painful to watch stereotypes that should get run off the air with torches and pitchforks by modern SJWs.

Doctor Who normally has he budget to hire the Big Name actors for 3-4 seasons. Normally Doctor Who will make these lesser actors better known vs. trying to get a well known actor to boost the well known Doctor Who Brand.

Eh, I think for a fair amount of the male (nerd) demographic, they wanted to be the Doctor, a man who doesn't win through force, but through wits and snark rather than action.

For the female demographic, they wanted to travel with a sexy, powerful man who takes them on dangerous adventures. Look how many fangirls fawn over David Teninch and Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor.

Spin that. You also need every classic villain to be female too. I'm still waiting for the outcry to make blockbuster-budget movies with Ada Hitler (and I don't mean those fetish porno, I mean a 'serious' WW2 reimage with the Reich lead by women).

The only Doctor I didn't like was the more recent Peter Capaldi, I didn't enjoy a single second of watching him

I tend to agree. I think they were trying to make him a throw back to the original character, but it never worked out. He is a good actor so I suspect they just never got the story quite worked out that well.

It could also be that there was no real overarching story like Tennent (Bad Wolf) and Smith (the crack) had to help tie things together. The best Peter had was Missy, but that didn't really tie anything together and the episodes just felt like disconnected adventures with no greater meaning.

A lot of people genuinely do not like bigotry and think badly of bigots. They believe bigotry is stupid and leads to unnecessary harm.

This is an alien concepts for bigots, so they make accusations of parroting. It's reminiscent of the difficulties the Germans had in 1914 in understanding French "terrorists." They could not believe the resistance was spontaneous and self-organized.

Re-imagining the Doctor has been kinda the point ever since the first re-generation. The whole idea of the show for N years now has been 'OK, now we've got a new primary, how's this one different'. If that doesn't work for you, I can't see why you'd have watched Eccleston, let alone be commenting on the subject.

Doctor Who was 'silly sci-fi' until Moffat decided it was fantasy with mere sci-fi trappings. That the sonic screwdriver was a magic wand instead of an actual sonic screwdriver as in the original series. That's what first made me regret I ever hoped he'd take over from Davies (who did a great job of capturing the feel of the original show as I recalled it through a thick haze of nostalgia).

Then he showed he didn't understand the Tardis by making it an actual living, intelligent, free-willed being. Which

Because the TARDIS chameleon circuit was stuck all this time, and interfered with the regeneration. The boost of regeneration energy from the Time Lords has now unstuck it, and we can hope the TARDIS will now appear as something other than a blue box from time to time.

(that makes as much sense as any other explanation in a science fiction series that makes it up as it goes along)